Inside Track

If you are reading this post, then it’s likely that you signed up for Clever Commute using a credit card (and you do not have a PayPal account)
(see http://www.clevercommute.com/payments for more info)

Clever Commute uses PayPal to process all transactions (even if you do not have a PayPal account). In these situations, PayPal internally creates a Guest account to process your subscription. It all works well…unless there is a problem with your credit card (e.g., lost/stolen or expired).

When that happens, PayPal does not have a mechanism for you to update your credit card details. The good news is that by simply following the Clever Commute sign-up instructions, you can let PayPal know what card they should use going forward. When you use Clever Commute, we (and PayPal) will prompt you to pay for your subscription…and your new payment information will be linked to your existing Clever Commute account.

We love all of our customers. Maybe you have a PayPal account…maybe you don’t. That’s OK. But we just want you to know that (for your safety) PayPal handles all of our transactions.

People who DO have a PayPal account likely have one or more funding sources (e.g., credit card, bank account, PayPal balance) set up at PayPal.

People who DO NOT have a PayPal account – PayPal charges your card on Clever Commute’s behalf.

In both cases, PayPal will make the recurring payment…yet Clever Commute has no knowledge of the details of the underlying payment source. (we don’t know if you are a PayPal user…and we certainly do not know details such as “card used” or “card number”)

If there is a problem with your funding source (e.g. credit card is expired or otherwise invalid), PayPal makes a few attempts to collect…over several days. If PayPal ultimately fails at collecting the money, then the recurring payment goes into a “suspended” state…and the commuter loses access to The Inside Track. Needless to say , that is not good for any of us. So…how to fix it?

If you set up your payment as yourself (e.g. NOT using a PayPal business account)

My friend and I made the 5:43 tonight because of Clever Commute! We got to Penn at 5:49. The track assignment was off the board. BUT the track assignment was IN our text inbox. Making the train saved us our prepaid fee with our fitness trainers and gave us an evening of health.
Irrepressible and overcome with gratitude for your platform which has saved me once again–this time because of substantial subway delays–I exclaimed loudly as soon I boarded the train, “We wouldn’t have made this train if not for Clever Commute!”

Why is the info not in the subject line? (e.g., why does it say “[NJTT-NEC] New “Travel Alert” from NJ Transit”)Short answer: Size.
We can’t control the length of these alerts…and they vary widely. To avoid chopping off part of the message, we put the “payload” in the body of the mail. We gave these messages a distinguishable subject (and differentiated them from subject we use for the free service).

What you can do if you DO NOT want to receive all these messages:

We are pleased to report that you have at least 4 options.

Be sure your time-of-day and day-of-week settings are accurate (to only get messages during your commute) (see how)

Here is a fantastic example of how a commuter can use The Inside Track to determine which track their train will be on…before it is announced.

In this scenario, it’s 5:58 PM and the rider is shown the track number for the 6:10 PM…with 92% probability (see disclaimer below).

The transit providers claim to announce trains “10-15 minutes prior to departure.” However, this train (announced 7:47 in advance) represents what we see based on actual data.

This example demonstrates the value we provide. If you were an The Inside Track user on this day you would have known your track assignment…

12 minutes prior to departure time and

2 minutes earlier than NJ Transit announced it!

Disclaimer: This is a real example from the Montclair-Boonton line on September 2, 2014. Probabilities will vary based on a variety of factors…and will change as scheduled departure time nears. Always confirm that you are on the proper train.

Step 1 – [5:56 PM] Arrive at Penn Station

Here is a view of the NJ Transit departure board.

Nope…the train is not posted yet

Step 2 – [5:58 PM] Check The Inside Track

Since we get our departure board data from the transit providers, it’s no surprise that we don’t list the track number yet, either.

The beauty of Clever Commute is that we offer riders the full “360 degree” view of their commute…with control over how/when the information is delivered to them.

Clever Commute originally started as a crowdsoucing company…but we have gone well beyond that. Here is a closer look:

User-generated content – We have tens of thousands of commuters who give you a first-hand look at what is happening on your commute. Our technology cleanses, curates, and removes duplicate messages in order to be sure that you get the most benefit from the wisdom of the crowds.

Official Information from the Transit Providers – Our technology talks to theirs…and you benefit. Through a variety of interfaces, we make it simple for you to access the data from your carrier. You no longer need to sign up with them.

Social Media – We scour the web for the best info for you. Sometimes it comes directly from your carrier. Sometimes it comes from others who share our passion for actionable commuter info. But it’s always information about your commute. So it doesn’t matter if (for example) you are on Twitter or not. We fetch it and deliver it to you per your preferences.

Historical – No one has more data than we do. Clever Commute was founded in 2008. That gives us years of context and history about every commute in the areas we serve. We use that data to provide you with the best information

Algorithms – Data is interesting…but it’s fascinating when you do things with it. We have deep knowledge of the issues on each of the carriers we serve, so we know what triggers the events / alerts / tips which help you. You won’t find this anywhere else.

The best part: you are in control!

Every person and commuting pattern is different. Users of our premium service (The Inside Track) can opt-in/out of the above as they’d like. You can also select the time-of-day and day-of-week that you want to receive notifications. You can pause your notifications when you are on vacation. You can even hit snooze and let us know when you’d like to resume.

Yes, your transit provider may indeed publish travel alerts on their web site. They may even e-mail some of them. But when you give them your e-mail address, you also may get unsolicited mails from them (promotions, corporate comms, etc). We solve for that, and ALSO give you these features: